Google: Most YouTube Users Ouside U.S.

YouTube is becoming increasingly international, with the majority of videos watched outside the US, said VP of content partnerships David Eun, often described as the company's "goodwill ambassador" to the media world.

In comments to a software industry conference, Eun provided updates on Google's attempt to turn YouTube's huge lead in online video into money. Newish "overlay" ads, where the a translucent pane covers a portion of the video screen, are doing well, he said, with clickthrough rates 3x - 5x higher than other forms of advertising.

One thing YouTube won't do: Pre-roll ads. "There is a lot of easy money in pre-roll [video ads] but you
can't tell me how much you're losing," Eun said. "You're losing a lot because you
are annoying your users."

Eun said YouTube could also help prop up sagging publishers, via branded video channels, such as those created by the New York Times and Forbes. Those channels would have generate an awful lot of ad dollars to help mitigate traditional publishers' pain, but Eun's is optimistic: "This is an area that is brand-new but it is ripe," he said. "We will be monetizing
this aggressively in the future."

Notes from Eun's comments to the Software & Information Industry Association conference in New York:

Eun: Google estimates more than 1 billion people are online around the globe. "The market is worldwide and access to information is worldwide."

1:32 pm: Humans create 5 exabytes of data per year. That's 5 plus 18 zeroes of new data, per year. All cataloged by Google, of course.

Traditional media creates "false scarcity" by distributing media over controlled channels. That model is over, he says. "Today, its really about ubiquity. The friction of distribution is no longer in the digital world." The companies that are succeeding aren't resisting this, they're embracing it.

1:36 pm: "Before it was about delivering consumer to content, now it's about delivering content to consumers. Its about taking the content to wherever the eyeballs are; the eyeballs are all over the web and all over mobile devices."

1:41 pm: Eun renumerates Google's core principles:

Focus on the user

Bottom-up innovation

Launch and iterate (perfection, he says, "is the tyranny of good enough"

1:44 pm: Eun says 60% of Google Videos are watched by someone, somewhere in the world, every day. Its the long tail of video at play, he says. The sweet spot of the "long tail" is the mid-section, the "torso," where smaller niche companies that are professional are populating their content.

1:47 pm: Eun: Will professional bull riders get their own cable channel? Probably not. But their video can exist profitably in the "torso" bit of the "long tail" on YouTube. "Thats what we do at Google. Connect big and small advertisers with big and small content creators."

1:55 pm: YouTube stats: Most traffic from outside the U.S. Ten hours of video are uploaded every minute. 19 local editions of the site. Hundreds of millions of videos watched daily. "We see YouTube and Google as a platform. We provide tools and services to those who create content."

Eun on Google's video ad format: "We created a video ad that is an overlay--it covers 20% of bottom of screen and is translucent. User can close the ad and resume watching the video. There is a lot of easy money in pre-roll [video ads] but you can't tell me how mch you're losing. You're losing a lot because you are annoying your users. Click through rates [for the overlays] are 3-5 times higher than other types of ads."

Eun on how to save publishing: Video channels, such as those on YouTube for the NY Times and Forbes. "This is an area that is brand-new but it is ripe. We will monetizing this aggressively in the future."

2:03 pm: Eun closes: "We see ourselves as a tech platform. We do not produce or own content. We are not going to kid ourselves that we can produce content. We want to work with those that do."

Question: how does an old-media guy (Eun) work in Google's engineering-focussed culture?"It was shocking. People put a premium on getting things done. Every meeting results in action items. Who was supposed to have done what by when? That culture was shocking. You either have to adapt, and hopefully show there are a few interesting tidbits from outside the culture to share."